Shock! Another fraud in the Bay Area world of high finance

Multiple sources have told us that Canopy was absolutely making up their financial statements, even forging audited statements with fake KMPG letterhead. And somehow the investment bank and all the investors never figured it out.

TechCrunch notes that “all trace of the company has been erased from the portfolio pages of (its major) investors” — who, between them, put $85 million into the company.

Vik Kashyap had no prior knowledge whatsoever of any fraud regarding Canopy’s financial statements. He is as surprised as anyone about these allegations. He relied on financial and legal professionals in accepting the authenticity of the company’s financials. Going forward, he will leave his role as CEO of Canopy, but will remain as Chairman of the Board of Directors, helping to ensure that anyone who committed fraud is held fully accountable.

PeHUB weighs in with more details, and this observation: “What’s really amazing here isn’t just the alleged audacity, but also the ability to deceive.”